Does this sound like a scam?

[Ryan]

I had a similar fear but it was honest and legit..

In this case my current Tenant was from Toronto, moved to Edmonton for work and was living in a hotel with his family. When I interviewed them they conveyed that they were deeply religious and presented me with a letter from the Salvation Army claiming the first months rent and security deposit would be paid for by the Salvation Army although it would take up to 15-days for the payment to be received.

The letter worried me, as this was my first property and I was aware that the scams were out there. I called the number on the letter and the information contained in the letter was confirmed. I cross referenced the number on the letter with the directory listings and the number I called did indeed belong to the Salvation Army. After checked other credentials I accepted the tenant and I`ve been very happy to provide a home for that family and they are great tenants.

I guess the moral of the story is, yes be skeptical and do your homework; but note that not everyone who has poor english with an off the mainstream proposal is a scam.

Kind regards,

 

[DennisEpp]

1st off, people generally may not speak the best English, but will write English or somewhat near it, what with cut and paste to a document and run Spell Check on either Microsoft of Apple. When u read the reply...self explanitory. 2nd with the tight rental market here in Edmonton and in Calgary the property should be rentable locally. Just my thoughts...

 

[mikecunning]

QUOTE (terri @ Dec 6 2007, 05:42 AM) After reading these posts yesterday I actually got my first scam on craigslist, thanks for the warning!

Hello,
i am interested in the house you placed an ad on the site.i am David lennon and i am 28 i want to make reservations for your apartment.I can assure you that you will not have no regrets letting out this apartment to me,i am an introvert by nature & i get along much easily with most people.I will be coming over alone,with no family or pets. I do not smoke and i drink very lightly.My reason for moving is because i have three job offers which i am undecided which to choose & the pay is very good. I will be working as a DataBase Adminstrator on Oracle at any one i finaly decide on.At present i am based in london uk but will be relocating to your province in a couple of weeks. Consequent to this and in order to make settling in much easier and quicker i am searching for an accomodation early,I saw your ad on the internet and i am interested in your apartment,so let me know if it is still available so that i can tell my client to make payment for it,So that i can move in as soon as you recieve payment,i wil need your full name and the address you want the payment to be made out to,so that the payment can be made out to you as soon as possble.i am very ambitious,i have always wanted to work outside(Europe) to change my environment and meet new people and make new friends.Please reply me as soon as you read this email.I ll be waiting to hear from you.Kindly contact me via email.
Thank you once more
Yours sincerly
David lennon


Is there was anyway to contact the sender of the email to say "no thanks" without giving out my email address? If I ignore the emial will they just keep coming?

I too have played along with these...I wrote one guy from the UK asking him how stupid he thought I was...then he sent me his passport and driver`s license picture pages saying it wasn`t a joke and that I shouldn`t be unprofessional because, after all, he was trying to help me...I found the Scotland Yard fraud section on line and sent it all to them. I wouldn`t reply unless you want them to harass you...time to upgrade that spam blocker!

Good luck

Mike

 

[garbonn]

I agree with the other writers that the ad is a scam. Approximatley 2 years ago when the ads were a new angle we had to watch out for I followed along and did receive a money order in the mail. A very legitimate looking BMO bank draft. Of course it was for twice what I was asking with the premise that I return the over payment to the writer. I immediatley had BMO check the draft and they advised it was fraudulent. As Don has mentioned in the past these drafts can be very dangerous as it make take months for the bank to determine if they are legitimate. You may think that you are covered after a 2-3 week clearing period only to discover much later that the bank is coming to you for the funds they provided. Be very aware.

 

[Brandon]

Who has time for all that nonsense. Thats what the delete button is for. In my experience if the response is wordy and confusing and they seem too polite, they will just waste your time and eventually try to scam you for money. Delete and move on, not even worth thinking about.

Brandon

 

[DennisEpp]

QUOTE (Brandon @ Dec 9 2007, 07:14 PM) Who has time for all that nonsense. Thats what the delete button is for. In my experience if the response is wordy and confusing and they seem too polite, they will just waste your time and eventually try to scam you for money. Delete and move on, not even worth thinking about.Brandon

Brandon
Just trying to be polite, the landlord seemed to have a concern. I am with u on this myselft ...delete.

PS: I made an error in my answer also, guess I should learn how to spell to, I wrote of instead or or

 

[RussellWestcott]

Howdy All, thought I would include this newspaper article in this discussion thread in case anyone new is doing some searching of the potential rental scams in the marketplace...
QUOTE Calgary woman arrested in rental scam

CALGARY - Police have arrested a Calgary woman wanted in connection with a rental scam that swindled 12 people out of thousands of dollars.

Between May and December 2007, the suspect fraudulently collected more than $15,000 in damage deposits and rent for two southwest Calgary homes she didn`t own.

"She was living there, but she posed as the owner and advertised on the Internet that she had a room for rent," said Const. Tanya Bertulli of the Calgary police commercial crime unit.

Denise Elizabeth Whalen, 50, was arrested in south Calgary on 25 outstanding warrants. Nineteen of the warrants were issued in relation to charges from Calgary. Six stem from Okotoks.

Click here for full article

Now if this person could only use her skills for good... there would be fewer problems around

 

[MichelSelim]

<H2 class=subject>Scam is now coming to Facebook inbox

2 BR Basement For Rent regarding 2 BR Basement For Rent</H2>May 15 at 9:06amReply Report MessageMy name is diago lens klinton, I grew up and schoolled in United States, am 37years old and work as a professional database administrator,I am an easy going clean person,honest and truthful,I don`t smoke indoors and take alchol only when the weather is too cold,I love meeting people, reading, sporting and making friend...I need a place to stay and looking for a honest,truthful and free style person/people to share an appartment/room with or has one for rent...kindly email me with my email address [email protected] if you still have the room.

Kindly contact me asap if you still have the room available...

 

[GaryCameron780]

QUOTE (samwei @ Oct 30 2007, 08:32 AM) Greetings there,
How are things on your end and i hope everything is going smooth,Well i saw your apartment for rent online and it sparked my interest,My name is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and im from Burnaby B.C working off shore at the moment but im coming over for the holiday and i would love to rent the place.i have experienced getting riped by people who advertise houses and end up not getting the place ,please do email me back and let me know the price per month,deposit and total cost to pay to secure the place prior my arrival, i would like to know about the utilities available as i would love to do a 6months or one year lease with you so please do email be back with details about the place so we can proceed,i will make solid arrangements for me things to be moved in by my hauler so please do get back to me asap..
i await to read from you soonest.thank you ...


My 2c added to the plethora of posts:

Why is this guy telling us he has experience being ripped off? (How is applying to rent a place and being turned down being ripped off?)

If he is coming for a holiday, how is it he is willing to sign a six month or one year lease? (Nice holiday.)

Gary Cameron